At what point did Adam Sandler's name come into your mind while you were writing the script? His character, Barry Egan, is similar to a lot of his previous roles, being a goofy character prone to bursts of aggression...

Monday, January 27, 2003

Standing in his hotel kitchenette, Paul Thomas Anderson veers between the conciliatory and the combative. On the one hand, he's truly sorry to have cancelled our meeting yesterday, and then to have kept me waiting around today. And on the other he's really not, "because, y'know, these interviews make me feel like a fucking asshole. They can't be good for my soul. The whole thing just isn't natural, is it?" He fixes me with a bug-eyed stare. "You want coffee? I don't want coffee, I'm too wired to drink coffee. Wine? I could do with some wine." And he stoops to fish a bottle from the fridge.

Friday, January 24, 2003

Paul Thomas Anderson is as idiosyncratic as his movies (Boogie Nights, Magnolia and now Punch-Drunk Love). He tells Charlotte O'Sullivan about the woman of his dreams – and why he fell out with Burt Reynolds

When actresses talk about a director they've just worked with, they tend to say things like, "It was an honour. I feel so lucky..." When I call Emily Watson to ask about Paul Thomas Anderson, the word she reaches for is "bonkers". She's used to odd men, having worked with Lars von Trier on Breaking The Waves. "Lars was more crazy," she concedes. But don't let that fool you. The 33-year-old San Fernando Valley auteur is "quite screwed up".